More than five years after the brutal murder of YS Vivekananda Reddy, the Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s paternal uncle, the unresolved case has acquired political overtones now and triggered a bitter family war ahead of the simultaneous elections to the assembly and the Lok Sabha.
The Chief Minister is coming under increasing attack from a section of his family members and the opposition parties for “protecting the murderers” and “obstructing justice”. In fact, his cousin brother YS Avinash Reddy, who is under a cloud for his alleged role in the murder, has been fielded as the ruling YSR Congress Party candidate for the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat.
“Don’t vote for my brother’s party. Don’t bring him back to power,” is the unusual appeal made to the voters by Vivekananda Reddy’s daughter Dr Narreddy Sunitha.
The Chief Minister’s estranged younger sister YS Sharmila, who is the state Congress president, has also been unsparing in her attack against her brother for trying to cover up the sensational murder case.
“I first reached out to YS Jagan, as he is my brother and also the chief minister of the state. He first promised me he will do everything possible to deliver justice. But, what happened later is the obstruction of justice” Dr Sunitha said.
Vivekanand Reddy was murdered on March 15, 2019, at his residence in Kadapa, the family bastion. The CBI has been probing the murder and has filed multiple charge sheets against eight accused. Both Avinash Reddy, the sitting MP from Kadapa, and his father Bhaskar Reddy are under the CBI scanner, having been named as the conspirators in the case.
“The accused are able to get away without punishment even five years after the murder only due to the protection given by Jagan. Everybody knows how Avinash and his followers sought to project the murder as a heart-attack. Even Jagan’s own media house, in its initial report, said it was a natural death,” Sharmila alleged.
On its part, the TDP, led by N Chandrababu Naidu, has been raising the issue during the electioneering for the upcoming elections. The party launched a campaign with the hashtag #WhoKilledBabai (Who killed uncle) on social media, evoking a huge response from the netizens.
As the issue is snowballing into a major election issue, Jagan is now launching a counter-attack on the TDP. At a public rally held at Proddatur in Kadapa district recently, the chief minister accused Naidu of instigating his sisters against him and his family for garnering political mileage in the elections.
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